Corpus-Paul

[Jeff Peterson <peterson AT mail.ics.edu>]

A couple of quick thoughts on this topic:

1.      As to the definition of apocalyptic, Christopher Rowland's _Open
Heaven_ remains a compelling case for broadening the term to refer to the
disclosure of heavenly secrets, including the hidden divine plans for the
future but not limited to these; other secrets disclosed in apocalypses
(e.g., the Book of the Watchers in 1 Enoch 1-36) include the constitution
of the heavens and the sublunar world. So the genre is constitued by
concern for matters ordinarily inaccessible to earthbound mortals but
disclosed to chosen persons by God.

2.      As to how widespread interest in such alleged disclosures was in
first-century Judaism, two items to consider:
        a.      Tom Wright makes a suggestive case that Josephus'
"ambiguous oracle" which incited his countrymen to revolt was the book of
Daniel (_NT and the People of God_, pp. 312 ff.); support for such an
interpretation of Daniel as Wright finds in Josephus can be found in 4 Ezra
11-13, with the eagle vision  prefacing the vision of Daniel's "human one
coming" up out of the sea.
        b.      If the DSS were not all composed at Qumran by Essenes (as
seems increasingly the case), then those works with apocalyptic interests
that do no bear clear sectarian tendencies attest to an interest in
apocalypticism beyond a single sectarian group. Perhaps the most striking
example is the _Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifices_, a meditation on  the
celestial temple preserved not only at Qumran but also at Masada.

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Jeffrey Peterson
Institute for Christian Studies
Austin, Texas, USA
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